Credited for making many of the pre-draft and draft day moves that landed Portland Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge back in 2006, it's hard to believe Kevin Pritchard has only "officially" been the Blazers' GM for a little over a year now. And once again, Pritchard proved his savvy during last year's draft, making another bundle of moves that shipped out Zach Randolph and brought back high-character (and quality) players like Channing Frye and James Jones (hopefully Rudy Fernandez, too).

KP has used his vision and eye for talent, while infusing his culture, to return this franchise into a likable winner the Rose City can be proud of. With KP steering the ship, Portland looks to be headed for something big. For more on Pritchard, the blog turns to Brian Berger, host of the nationally syndicated radio show Sports Business Radio:

Where do you begin with the superlatives to describe the job Portland Trail Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard has done?

While he probably won't win the NBA's Executive of the Year award this season, is there an NBA General Manager who has done a better job of reshaping his team's roster over the past two years than Kevin Pritchard? Pritchard has worked miracles during the past two NBA Drafts. Sure, there's been some luck involved with ping-pong balls bouncing his way, but all you need to do is consider this: Just two seasons ago, the team's core players were Zach Randolph, Darius Miles and Sebastian Telfair. These players were overpaid, they underperformed and they each had embarrassing incidents off the basketball court that became distractions.

Just two years later, the Trail Blazers have arguably the best young core of players in the league with Greg Oden, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. And Pritchard has surrounded those core players with solid role players like Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake. Spain's Rudy Fernandez could join the team starting next season. Pritchard's deft moves have Portland primed for several title runs over the next decade.

With Oden, Roy and Aldridge as the core and another lottery pick on the way, is there a roster in the NBA that has more promise than the Trail Blazers roster? And not only has Pritchard stockpiled talented players that are the envy of other NBA teams, but he's rid the organization of the cancers that ate up cap space previously. (Ridding the team of Darius Miles recently will bring the team $25M-$33M to spend on free agents in the summer of 2009).

Winning and fun are the new mantras in Portland. The losing, selfishness and finger pointing days are gone. Once players put on that Trail Blazers uniform, they genuinely enjoy playing together. Do you think there might be a few free agents who wouldn't mind teaming up with Oden, Roy and Aldridge to try to win a championship? I'd bet on it. And Pritchard will know exactly when to add a key free agent or make a trade to add another piece to the championship puzzle.

Good leaders surround themselves with talented people. Pritchard brought in salary cap savant Tom Penn as his Assistant GM (who gets credit for finding an obscure rule that netted the team sharp shooter James Jones on Draft Day last year) and he's got a nice chemistry with Head Coach Nate McMillan and his staff. For the first time in a long time, the Trail Blazers Basketball Operations Staff is on the same page. And to take it a step further, the Basketball Operations staff and the Business Operations staff, led by team President Larry Miller and COO Mike Golub are on the same page.

But more than anything, Kevin Pritchard has completely changed the culture of the Portland Trail Blazers. And transforming an organization that was mired in mediocrity and crippled by executives and players who made one bad decision after the next, into an organization that now exudes confidence and emphasizes hard work and character is not an easy task. But Pritchard has turned the tides in a pretty brief amount of time.

Kevin Pritchard just "gets it". Whether its his friendly demeanor and candor with the media or his ability to examine nearly every option imaginable to improve Portland's basketball team, Pritchard has a long-term vision and he does a masterful job of executing his plan.

And its just a matter of time until Kevin Pritchard and his Portland Trail Blazers are riding down Broadway on a float celebrating Portland's first NBA championship since 1977. It may not happen next year or the year after, but its going to happen sooner than later if this team stays healthy.

Who knows........if KP and Brandon Roy pull off another ping-pong ball miracle at the NBA Draft lottery in a few weeks and this team adds point guard Derrick Rose to the mix, we could be looking at a dynasty.